Wareham students recognized for excellence

Friday

Aug 8, 2014 at 3:24 PMAug 8, 2014 at 3:24 PM

Six students at Wareham High School have earned AP Scholar Awards and one student earned the AP Scholar with Honor Award in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams, school officials announced in a press release.The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) provides students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams.Emma M. Wynne qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.Six WHS students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with scores of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Owen R. Braley, John P. Irving, Nathaniel P. King, Meghan J. Silvia, Staley E. Quinn, and Hope A. Wallace.Each exam is developed by a committee of college and university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring that AP Exams are aligned with the same high standards expected by college faculty at some of the nation’s leading liberal arts and research institutions. Most four-year colleges in the United States provide credit and/or advanced placement for qualifying exam scores. Research consistently shows that AP students who score a 3 or higher on AP Exams (based on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest) typically experience greater academic success in college and have higher college graduation rates than students who do not participate in AP.Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino said he was pleased to learn that an additional 26 WHS students earned qualifying scores of 3 or higher on at least one AP exam this year. "These students challenged themselves with college-level courses and performed well on their exams as a result of their hard work and excellent study habits. This year we had more students than ever participate in AP courses, partly due to our school’s involvement in the Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative. I am so pleased with their success."Wareham High School is entering its second year into this grant that helps support schools in Massachusetts in encouraging more students to take Advanced Placement courses, officials said."We have eased our normally very rigorous requirements for admittance into AP courses," said Deborah Freitas, WHS assistant principal, "in an attempt to increase enrollment in math, science and English AP courses. As long as the student has potential and is willing to put forth the effort, we want to expose them to as many challenging courses as they will need to compete in the 21st century. If they succeed in these courses, we know that these students are definitely college-ready."Looking at the increase in enrollment and the students’ qualifying scores, it seems these efforts have paid off for the following students: Sidney Andrade, Cameron Bancroft, Kimberly Barboza, Allison Bernique, Cecilia Briggi, John Brand, Jeffrey Cifello, Patricia Cooney, Kylie Gillette, Corey Harunkiewcz, Michaela Horman, Kaylyn Lockyer, Jamie McCann, Michael McInerney, Breanna Muir, Katelyn Murphy, Nicole Nault, Nicole Russo, Timeo Sequeira, Jamie Shapiro, Maddison Stahmer, Quinn Staley, Madison St. Julien, Ashley Texiera, Mary Torraco, and Andrew Tricker.